


ready now

by orphan_account



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, How Do I Tag, I Tried, I'm tired, Inspired by Music, M/M, Not Beta Read, anxiety mention, oh well, song: ready now (dodie clark)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:55:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21813286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep was something that Dex was used to. Waking up and being nauseous and getting anxious over that and getting more nauseous and then getting more anxious because that was something that he was used to. Resorting to the dissolvable sleep meds that his mom gave him because he woke up in the middle of the night and was too anxious to go back to sleep was something that he was used to.Waking up in the middle of the night at a friend's house was not something that he was used to....just a keefex oneshot inspired by 'ready now' by dodie clark.
Relationships: Dex Dizznee/Keefe Sencen
Comments: 16
Kudos: 62





	ready now

**Author's Note:**

> did i base this off of my own sleeping problems? yes. did i also include the comfort that i want whenever it happens? yes. sue me. 
> 
> okay, so this probably isn't going to be my best work... but i tried? idk man. i'm tired and just wanted to create more keefex content because there isn't enough of it as it is. okay? okay. 
> 
> also: i have a tumblr!! it is @veetumbles and i sometimes draw. please check it out. i need the validation lmao.
> 
> that's all :)

Blinking, Dex lifted his head from his pillow. Raising his now-fisted hand and removing it from the covers, he carefully rubbed at his eye. He turned his head and sat up better.

Reading the alarm clock on the dresser across from him, he resisted the urge to throw himself back into air-mattress. Through clenched teeth, he sighed quietly and as softly as he could, he threw his head back onto the pillow. 

In the overwhelming darkness of the room, the soft light that the alarm clock omitted seemed like something that would save him. 

That wasn’t the case when the bright numbers read out 1:27. 

Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep was something that Dex was used to. Waking up and being nauseous and getting anxious over that and getting more nauseous and then getting more anxious because that was something that he was used to. Resorting to the dissolvable sleep meds that his mom gave him because he woke up in the middle of the night and was too anxious to go back to sleep was something that he was used to.

Waking up in the middle of the night at a friend’s house was not something that he was used to. 

The fact that he was even there with his friends was insane. These days, he could never tell if they actually wanted him around. Sometimes, he wondered if they were better off without him. It sure seemed that way whenever they forgot about him. 

It seemed as though they forgot about him more often nowadays. Sure, he wasn’t able to hang out a lot because his parents had to work sudden double shifts and he had to watch the triplets, but that didn’t mean they could stop asking him.

But this time was different. He almost wanted to decline since he assumed that they didn’t want him there; hell, the only thing that got him to sleep over was Keefe and Sophie’s insistence. More Keefe than Sophie, but her contributions helped slightly.

Keefe was… different from the rest of the friends in their friend group. He had a special place in Dex’s mind, there was no doubt about that. 

It seemed as though Keefe had no trouble to sway his mind. He never ceased to bring a smile to his face, no matter his previous mood. The boy was always on Dex’s mind, no matter what. It seemed as though there was no place he’d rather be than with him sometimes, and honestly, it scared him. 

Clutching his stomach, Dex bit the inside of his cheek. Now he couldn’t tell if the stomach pains were from the reason he woke up or from his thoughts. 

Whenever he woke up from stomach pains at home, he would usually go on his phone to distract himself. When he felt as though he had calmed down enough and like some of the nausea went away, he’d take the sleep med and wait for it to start working. 

Now, he couldn’t go on his phone because there were other people in the room with him. With where the small, twin-size air-mattress was positioned, his phone would wake up Keefe, Sophie, and Linh, who were all somewhere to his sides (Sophie and Linh were sharing a mattress while Keefe slept on the small couch in the room. 

As well, he didn’t think that he’d wake up in the middle of the night. It had been a few days since it happened last, and the scenario completely slipped from his mind. 

He would feel too bad if he went to go wake one of his friends since he really shouldn’t be doing that by now. Although he knew that they’d understand, he still would feel guilty.

So that brings us to now, 1:53 in the morning. 

Due to his non-stop worrying, the ache in his stomach did not go away. Because of that, the non-stop worrying did not go away, either. 

The only comfort he had from the darkness was the fact that his friends were all getting a good night's rest. Hell, even Sophie and Tam, the resident insomniacs, were somehow managing to get sleep; they almost never did. 

Unless they were pretending to sleep, which Dex was now half tempted to do. Perhaps if he pretended to sleep, he could trick his mind, which would trick his stomach, which would even further trick his mind, and then he’d fall asleep. 

Laying down on his back, he back to regret everything. His stomach seemed to mock his feeble attempts at sleep. Quickly, he moved to sit up again. 

At this point, he was tempted to go on his phone. Luckily, he didn’t detach his headphones. If he was quick enough, he could plug them in and-

No. Because if he made one wrong move, everyone would be awake and it would be his fault. Because if he woke them up, he’d disappoint them again. Because if he disappointed them again, they’d ditch him and leave him alone. And he couldn’t be alone again. 

Being alone was a truly numbing feeling that consumed his entirety and left him all ache-y. Being alone was something that never truly leaves, no matter the number of people you are surrounded by. Being alone was something that he wasn’t going to be.

Suppressing another bad thought, Dex shook his head. 

He shouldn’t be going down this rabbit hole again. Not when it was literally ass o’clock in the morni-

From behind him, someone shifted. At first, it was as though the person had tossed over in their sleep. Then, the person yawned and made another noise which sounded kind of like a stretch. And then that person was seemingly awake, just like that. 

Rather quickly, Dex quietly laid himself onto the air-mattress despite his stomach’s protests. The person behind him sighed and from what it sounded like, sat up. They moved around quite a bit with little to no concern about the people around them. 

It was something that Dex had forgotten could happen; whoever had just woken up was probably in the same boat and-

-and suddenly they were sitting next to him on the air mattress. They sat on their knees and they leaned forward on their hands, which had been placed carefully next to his side. The person seemed to be considering something, probably what to do next since they were kind of on his air-mattress. 

Dex tried his best to seem asleep. He relaxed his breathing, much like he used to do when he was little and his mom had gone into his room to check up on him. He stayed as still as he possibly could have. If he tensed up now, then he’d make it seem obvious that he was awake.

But then the person, seemingly making up their mind, leaned down to practically hovering over him. Now, he could slightly feel their breath on his cheek, which was making him vaguely uncomfortable. 

He wondered what the hell was going through the head of whoever the hell was above him. What sane person would just… mess with someone in their sleep like that? Teenagers, sure. But why? 

“I know you’re awake, Dex,” The voice of Keefe Sencen whispered above him. 

Warmth immediately flooded Dex’s cheeks, leaving his face way too hot. His heart stuttered in his chest momentarily. It was too early for this. Luckily, there was barely any light in the room, so he could still pull off the whole sleeping thing, despite the number of flips his heart was doing.

Praying to whoever the hell was clocking in above, he pleaded to at least convince Keefe that he was sleeping. He did not want to have any sort of conversation at this time, and he definitely did not want to talk to Keefe at this time. It was too early.

“Dex, please. You literally suck at acting like you’re sleeping,” Keefe whispered once more, leaning up slightly. He moved so that he was now sitting crisscrossed on the mattress, his hands now at his sides. He was a bit further away now as if backing up so that he could sit up. 

Sighing, Dex slowly opened his eyes. Just his luck. He hesitated before turning over to face Keefe. He then sat up, mimicking the way that Keefe had been sitting. 

As he did this, he didn’t dare to look up. He didn’t want to see the disappointment on his friend's face. If he did, then he’d break down and he really didn’t need that at ass o’clock in the morning.

“What’re you doing up?” Keefe had questioned once they were both situated. 

“Woke up. Can’t sleep,” Dex mumbled in reply, staring at his nails, “what about you?” 

Keefe thought his question over a little bit. The silence had once again filled the room. It was almost comforting in contrast to the conversation that had awaited him. 

“What about me?” Keefe then joked. This earned him a small smile, which he probably couldn’t see in the dark. 

“You know what I’m asking,” Dex grumbled, rubbing at his eyes. 

“Do I? Do I really?” He continued to fool around, probably in an effort to get him to laugh. Although he didn’t quite get there, Dex did laugh in the form of air blown out of his nose. 

“I had to use the bathroom,” Keefe responded after a few seconds, “c’mon. Let’s get you up.” 

At that, he felt the air-mattress dip slightly. Before he could even protest, Keefe was standing. Hands grabbed his arms and tugged him up rather easily, and suddenly they were both on their feet. 

Dex could barely focus on the way his heart had been pounding in his chest. Instead, he focused on the fact that his arms were way too cold and Keefe’s hands were way to warm my god-

Two hands became one and then he was being dragged around sleeping bodies in the dark. As this happened, Dex had voiced his protests through whispers. If Keefe had heard, then he clearly didn’t care. 

Despite the fact that literally all of their friends -but Biana- were sleeping on the floor, they walked. Occasionally, a floorboard would creak and Dex would tense and wait for someone to wake up.

No one ever did wake up, but Dex was paranoid. He grew up with triplet siblings, how wouldn’t he be?

Suddenly, they were walking down the hall to the bathroom. They walked faster now since Keefe wasn’t concerned with being quiet anymore. The door to the bedroom had been closed behind them, so there was somewhat of a noise buffer.

When they had reached the bathroom, Keefe had stopped just before and reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Pulling out his phone with his headphones, he unlocked the device and opened the music app.

He searched in the music app for a little bit before opening up a playlist. From what Dex could see, the cover of it was a picture of everyone in their friend group taken two months back. The playlist itself was titled ‘beautiful keefe and the rest’ and from what he could assume, it was a playlist meant for them. 

Keefe then handed the device to Dex, smiling a little. He passed the headphones over as well, this time making a motion similar to putting a headphone into his ear.

“Wait here. We’re talking as soon as I get out,” Keefe instructed, waiting for Dex to slip a headphone into his ear. Once Dex did, he disappeared into the bathroom and locked the door behind himself. 

Despite his confusion, Dex pressed shuffle on the playlist. The familiar tune of Dancing Queen filled his ears, and suddenly he was jamming. 

Well… not exactly.

Unless you count silently enjoying music and not dancing as stupidly as your heart desires as jamming. But… let’s face it. Everyone has danced stupidly to Dancing Queen at least once in their life. Everyone is a Dancing Queen. Hell, the lyrics say so. It must be. 

Even Dex, who is waiting for his friend to finish using the bathroom by sitting on the floor is a Dancing Queen. 

But that's beside the point. Although Dancing Queen was one of Dex’s favorite songs, he wasn’t in a Dancing Queen mood. He left it on anyway since he didn’t think that there’d be any other songs that he’d like in the playlist.

So he sat on the floor and took it like a man. A cranky, stomach ache-y, and heart-at-stake-y man-boy. At least the music helped get his mind off of his stomach. 

Once the second chorus hit, the door opened again, and out stepped Keefe. Once Dex saw him, he paused the song and removed the headphones. He then gave the phone back and turned to walk back to Fitz and Biana’s basement.

“Hey,” Keefe had called out. Dex stopped, allowed his hands to grip at his arms, and turned around.

“Yes?” Dex replied, keeping his voice down. Although the door to the guest bedroom in the basement was closed, he was still paranoid.

“I think you’re forgetting something,” Keefe’s voice had lowered slightly. When he noticed Dex’s frown, his small smile fell from his face. He then looked away from Dex, settling to stare at the wall next to him. “We still need to talk.” 

“Talk? There’s no reason for us to talk,” Was Dex’s response, “it’s too early.” The other protests in his head stayed there. He couldn’t voice anything; it would only give everything that he’s kept tucked away neatly away. He couldn’t have that. 

Keefe looked unimpressed. Judging from his expression, he was getting upset by this. Keefe, despite his joking and unserious nature as actually quite caring and empathetic, when it came to his friends. Dex assumed that the idea of knowing that one of them was hurt was upsetting to his friend. 

“C’mon, Dex. You gotta talk to me here,” Keefe’s voice was soft, pleading almost, “just let me help you this time and this time only. After this, I won’t bother you anymore.”

The tone of his voice hurt. It was like kicking a puppy. 

Except Keefe wasn’t a puppy. Keefe was a person. And he was much bigger and taller than a puppy. And less… hairy -unless you count the hair on his head. And he wasn’t being kicked at the moment. 

… Okay so maybe it wasn’t like kicking a puppy.

“Fine! Fine,” Dex cracked under the pressure, and before he knew it, he was slowly walking towards the bathroom. Slowly walking to his impending doom. 

Once he had made it into the bathroom, Keefe closed the door behind him and sat down right in front of it. Noting that he had no way of getting out, Dex sat down as well. However, he put a noticeable distance between him and Keefe by sitting next to the sink. 

Dex, in his quite nervous state, settled on playing with his hands and sleeves rather than start the conversation. This didn’t seem to sell his attempt at being okay very well. 

“So… what’s up?” Dex asked, since Keefe seemed to want him to start the conversation. This earned him a seemingly forced smile.

“That’s what I wanna know from you,” Keefe’s smile seemed to become one of patience, “what’s the Dexinator doing waking up at god-knows-when in the morning? Are you okay?” 

The question should’ve been easy to answer. Dex knew this. It could’ve been answered in two sentences at best. But of course, he had to go and over complicate things.

“I just woke up when you did. I was planning on going back to sleep, but life had other plans. Now we’re here,” He lied, trying to meet Keefe’s eyes to make it seem more believable. 

“Why are you lying?” Came Keefe’s quick response. He then squinted, as if he was searching for some answer deep within his soul. “I just wanna help you, alright? I’m not doing this to mess with you or anything. I just want an honest answer and then we can go back and sleep.”

He spoke as if Dex was two and stupid, and Dex was neither of those things. He let it slide, however, since he was tired and in pain.

“Because I’m tired,” Was the only thing Dex could come up with, “and I’m kinda anxious and I really don’t need the added stress right now.” Which wasn’t entirely a lie. Of course, since he was beginning to ramble, he told more than he intended. Perhaps that was a good thing. 

“Then why are you anxious?” Keefe continued to reply quickly, leaving no room for him to try and change his mind. It was yet another thing that Dex wished he wasn’t so damn good at. 

“I don’t know,” Dex mumbled, looking away from Keefe’s gaze and settling to look at the tile of the bathroom floor.

The pattern was a weird one, Dex had noted. It was kept going and going, and it made a weird shape that he dubbed a panda baby, since it kind of resembled one.

“Why are you anxious?” Keefe pressed again, his voice softer than before. He moved closer slightly, and it was almost as if he was hesitating.

“I told you. I don’t know,” This time, Dex’s reply wasn’t as strong. He began to look at the “baby panda” tile some more, this time noticing the small cracks in between each tile.

The questioning went back and forth after that. Keefe continued to ask Dex why he was anxious, to which Dex almost always replied with “I don’t know”. 

No matter how many times Keefe asked, Dex continued to put up his front. No matter how his voice cracked and how badly he wanted to cave in, Dex continued to put up his front.  
No matter how much he wanted the questioning to end, Dex continued to put up his front. No matter how much his eyes started to water, Dex continued to put his front. No matter how strong the overwhelming urge to stop was, Dex continued to put up his front.

It wasn’t until a tear slipped from his eyes that Dex finally stopped to put his front. 

“Fine,” Dex’s voice had cracked, “you wanna know so bad? I’ll tell you.” 

Dex took a deep breath and began to stare off into the distance. He swallowed his non-existent pride and wiped the stray tear from his cheek. Curling in on himself, he began to speak. 

“I woke up in the middle of the night because I felt sick. This made me feel anxious, which made me feel more sick, which made me feel more anxious. Yes, this has happened before. Yes, I usually have things to deal with this. But now I don’t. I didn’t want to wake anyone up because I felt like I was being enough of an annoyance by being here. So I was planning on riding it out until I either went back to sleep or stayed awake until someone else woke up. And I’m rambling now, aren’t I? Great. Just great,” Dex rambled on, hugging his knees.

Of all times to ramble and be an idiot, now just had to be it, huh? Dex sighed once he finished talking, closing his eyes and pretending he was anywhere but here, locked in a bathroom by Keefe and spilling his guts out. 

After a few seconds had passed, Dex went back to playing with his hands. It was a nervous habit, sue him. At least he wasn’t pulling his eyelashes out like a certain cousin. But on the other hand, she was in therapy now. He wasn’t anymore.

It wasn’t until a few seconds neared thirty that Keefe reacted. 

Arms wrapped around his back, pulling him into Keefe’s embrace. Keefe began to soothe him by whispering comforting words into his ear. This caused him to break down into quiet, tearless sobs.

“Hey. You’re okay, you’re okay,” Keefe had whispered, rubbing calming circles into his back, “I’m sorry for not noticing sooner.” 

“You’re sorry?” Was Dex’s sole reply. Although he was confused, he wrapped his arms around Keefe’s shoulders and closed his eyes. 

“Yeah. I could’ve done something more if I noticed,” Keefe’s voice was still soft and comforting.

“Why?” Dex had questioned.

“Because you’re important to me. You’re Dexinator, and you’re my go-to for messing with people. Who would I team up with if you weren’t around? Bangs Boy? Don’t make me laugh,” Keefe joked. Dex laughed slightly and heat rose to his face quickly.

“Well, you have Sophie and Fitz and literally everyone else. They’re all better than me,” Dex felt Keefe’s arms tighten around him, “all I can do is get forgotten about.”

“Yeah… that’s not true. Are their names Dex? Do they have triplet siblings? Are they as smart as you when it comes to technology? Are they amazing at messing with people without even trying?” 

Silence overtook the bathroom once more. However, this time the silence was not tense or unwelcomed. It was… nice. Not pressuring, not thick, not painful. Just… nice.

But, he knew that Keefe was waiting for a response.

“... No,” Was Dex’s reluctant reply. In response, he was somehow hugged tighter.

“Exactly, Dexy!” Keefe’s voice was louder now. It wasn’t as soft as it was when he was comforting Dex, but it was much more energetic than before. 

“Hey, Keefe?” Dex had yawned, nerves somewhat forgotten and therefore the ache in his stomach somewhat dissipated. 

“Yeah, Dexy?” Keefe replied, laughing when Dex had pushed him away due to the nickname. Dex prayed that he couldn’t see the persistent blush on his face. 

“Okay, first of all, drop the nickname. Second, can we get out of the bathroom now? As much as I love opening up and dealing with my emotions -ha that’s a funny joke- I also need sleep,” Keefe laughed again. 

“Sure thing, Dexter’s Laboratory,” 

“Okay, that’s not even a nickname. Now you’re just naming a kids show,”

“Yeah? Well, it still works, though,”

“Are you kidding no it literally doesn’t,”

“Well I think it does, and my opinion is better than yours by default,”

With that, the two chaotic teens left the bathroom and walked down the hall. In contrast to their previous trip down there, this was much more light-hearted and fun. It was something that both boys needed and appreciated greatly. 

Once they reached the guest bedroom, they opened the door and crept around the sleeping bodies once more. This time, they walked more recklessly since both were too tired to truly focus on what they were doing. 

The time was now 2:14, and both boys were tired. So, Dex climbed into his air-mattress and slipped the covers over himself. He was surprised, however, when Keefe slipped under the covers with him.

“I’m tired and Linh and Sophie moved. I’d have to stomp their lights out to get onto the couch,” Keefe had whispered his explanation. Dex, however, was too tired to care at this point. 

As he was beginning to drift off, he felt a hand grab his own and pulled him close.

“I’m not going anywhere,” was the last thing he heard before drifting off into a comforting, dreamless sleep.


End file.
